Monday, 21 June 2010

Last year my daughters and I visited a street market in Beijing. As you can see from the photos below, the delicacies were so tempting that it was difficult to choose. Suffice it to say that we were starving when we left the market; despite the abundance of creatures, there was not a bite to eat.

Starfish lollipop anyone? Try them flash fried and served on a stick. Yum! What's that next to the starfish?

Would you like your scorpion dipped in chocolate or sauteed in garlic?

Sorry about the blurry photo. I think they were still moving.

When we lived and travelled around Asia, we were introduced to many creatures, great and small, most of them served up on a plate. We went to a Korean BBQ where they plunked a platter of horse sashimi onto the table. Because it is a delicacy, I suspect that there is strict rationing of glue for the schoolchildren of Seoul. One time, in Tokyo, my husband's Japanese colleagues treated him to dinner at a restaurant that served live crustaceans. The expat community called it the Wiggly Restaurant. In Malaysia, they snuck some chicken feet into our stir-fry. In Asia, food is an adventure and we were game, up to a point.

Heston Blumenthal, eat your heart out! The Asians know how to throw a banquet to remember. But to be fair, I have to say that creepy crawly creatures aside, Asia has some of the best food I've ever eaten. Tokyo, especially, is a foodie's dream. We still fantasize about the fresh sushi, wagyu beef, odorless fish that is fresh from the sea, and the delicious seasonal produce and exotic fruits.

I'm participating in the Gallery at Sticky Fingers and this week's theme is Creatures. Clearly, I took a great deal of artistic licence with my interpretation. Due to my non-existent photography skills, you can probably understand why I'm a first-time contributor to the gallery.

6 comments:

You are more adventurous than I am with food-I would definitely go hungry a lot in other countries. My kids are always willing to try new things though. Nicholas is in Maryland this weekend at his Uncles sampling many Italian delicacies-and we are all jealous!

We had wonderful, wonderful food at the street food aisle in Beijing, but I was with my sister who had lived there. And we don't eat meat, either of us, for the record. There were these amazing spring-roll like veggie things, some stuffed veggie bread sort of like Indian naan... I could go on. Go back with my sister :-)

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About Me

I am a common garden variety housewife, an American (no, I will not apologize), married to a Brit (His Royal Highness HRH). We have two fabulous daughters, 14 (Truly) and 5, (Scrumptious) and a perfectly delicious little dog (the Royal Hound). We are living the dream in the heart of Nappy Valley, Southwest London. Like life, it's a work in progress and this blog is about the journey.